India News

Shah defends demonetisation, says it expanded India’s formal economy

Published

9 years ago

September 9, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]BJP national president tells FICCI that dip in GDP growth to 5.7 per cent was due to “technical reasons”

At a time when Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report stating that 99 per cent of demonetised notes had been deposited with various banks has unleashed renewed criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maverick move, BJP national president Amit Shah, on Saturday, pitched a new defence of noteban, asserting that it had expanded India’s “formal economy”.

Addressing an interactive session organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Saturday, Shah said: “I definitely believe that the formal economy has increased due to demonetisation. Money lying at various places is now part of the economy.”

Asserting that declaring Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as no longer legal tender was a “hard decision” taken to boost the Indian economy and that the BJP doesn’t link policy decisions with vote bank, Shah said: “We have taken some decisions for which we have faced severe criticism. But let me make one thing clear that BJP’s Narendra Modi government does not believe in taking decisions that just appear good to people, but it believes in taking decisions that are actually good for people.”

While Prime Minister Modi and his government may have also faced flak for offering different figures of new tax payers brought under the income tax net in the past three years – and especially since demonetisation – Shah didn’t shy away from giving his own numbers.

“Those people who are asking about the benefits of demonetisation, I would like to tell them that since independence, we were able to add only 3.7 crore in our tax payer base…In last three years, we have increased the number of taxpayers from 3.7 crore to 6.3 crore. This shows that our economy is growing, and our transparency is also growing, but for this, some of the difficulties have to be faced right now,” the BJP president said.

Shah, however, conceded that the BJP “may have faced” or could face in the future some “political losses” due to demonetisation but qualified his statement by saying that it was a risk that the party was willing to take “in the interest of the country”.

He also asked the business community to “encash” the “Brand India” built by the government globally and claimed that the NDA dispensation’s most significant contribution was that it had transformed the “scale of thinking“.

The Modi government was focusing on long-term goals rather than short-term gains, Shah said, adding that direct benefit transfers now reach 36 crore people from 8.5 crore in 2014 and saved over Rs 59,000 crore in subsidies. Earlier, this money would have disappeared due to corruption, he said.

Shah also played down the dip in the GDP growth rate to 5.7 per cent in the last quarter, saying it was due to some “technical reasons” and added it had gone up to 7.1 per cent after falling to 4.7 per cent in 2013-14 when the UPA was in power.

The BJP president also touched upon the issue of banks’ non-performing assets (NPAs), seen as a drag on the economy, saying the Modi government had inherited these bad loans and none of them happened during its tenure. It was a very “courageous move” of the Modi dispensation to ask banks to bring NPAs to their books, he said.

“The issue (of NPAs) is looked at politically. But I want to make it very clear that none of these loans which turned NPAs were offered during our government. Opposition targets us saying so many accounts have turned into NPAs. But not a single account is from our time. We have inherited it,” he said.

The Union government along with states had taken over 7,000 decisions to increase the ease of doing business, he said, adding: “Some critics of our government claim that development has stalled but I would like to tell them not to look at statistics but travel around to find development.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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India News

Delhi-NCR sees second spell of rain and thunderstorms in four days

Delhi-NCR experienced another spell of rain and thunderstorms on March 18, with IMD forecasting more showers over the next few days.

Published

7 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.

The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.

The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an alert predicting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning on March 18. Several areas across the capital experienced gusty winds along with brief but intense showers.

More rain likely over next two days

The weather department has forecast partly cloudy skies for March 19 and 20, with chances of light rain or thundershowers occurring once or twice during the day. On March 21, skies are expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of light showers continuing.

Conditions are likely to stabilise from March 23 onwards, with forecasts indicating a return to partly cloudy to clear skies across the region.

Weather activity across India to intensify

The IMD has also indicated widespread weather activity across multiple regions of the country in the coming days. Rainfall is expected to intensify in several states, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds.

In the northeastern region, heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the early part of the week.

Meanwhile, the western Himalayan region is also set to witness a shift in weather patterns. Himachal Pradesh is likely to receive heavy rainfall on March 19 and 20, while Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir may experience heavy showers around March 20.

India News

Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

9 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.

High costs slowing expansion

The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.

It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.

Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.

To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.

Reform-linked incentives for states

The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:

Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.

Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

India News

BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Published

10 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

Campaign push led by top leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

Candidate selection underway

The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.

Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.